Package for delicate articles



March 6, 1962 H. v. KINDSETH PACKAGE FOR DELICATE ARTICLES Filed March '7, 1960 This invention relates to packages for shipping radios, electronic instruments and like delicate articles and especially to packages which suspend the article to be shipped away from the wall of the outer container.

Briefly stated, this invention comprises an outer carton and two formed spaced supporting structures t inside the carton to suspend the article to be packaged away from the side walls of the container.

A great many types of packages have been provided for packaging electronic instruments and radios. None of these packages has proven wholly satisfactory. Lightweight instruments may be shipped satisfactorily in paperboard boxes or tubes in which a thick layer of bonded hair, foamed rubber, plastic or the like separates the article from the outer wall of the container. When the instrument is fairly heavy, the amount of foam material ref quired (because of its spongy nature) becomes quite great and the package, as a result, may be prohibitively expensive.

In some cases, die cut sections o-f corrugated board are used to protect these instruments. Besides lacking shock absorbency these corrugated board sections have to be assembled or folded by hand labor and consequently the handling costs are excessive. Glued die-cut corrugated sheets are sometimes used but inherently require that the entire end of the package be lled with corrugated board. Obviously the cut-out sections in the center of these corrugated sheets have to be thrown away, which again raises the cost of the package.

A satisfactory package for shipping delicate instruments must rst, protect the outside of the instrument against abrasion and marring. Secondly, it must protect the instrument against shock and vibration. Thirdly, it must protect small projections on the article. Fourthly, the cost of the package must be balanced against the number of breakages per shipment. Finally, the package must be easily and quickly assembled.

Vibrations of a small amplitude are filtered out satisfactorily by the corrugated board in the outer container. The shock produced by larger vibrations and by dropping must be adequately filtered out by the inner packaging material. This material must be chosen so that its stitiness will result in minimum cubage for the particular application. The capacity to dampen shock pulses and vibration varies with the stiffness of material. The cushioning material which will absorb the largest energy per unit volume will require the least thickness.

When a cushioned package is dropped to the oor, for example, it receives a constant acceleration until the instant it strikes the door. At this instant, the container stops and the article continues to fall until the cushion has absorbed all the kinetic energy possessed by the article. The negative acceleration of the article will depend on how quickly it is stopped and will usually be greater than l G. When the cushion material lls the entire space between the outer container and the article, the article will penetrate the material a given distance depending upon its thickness, composition and the kinetic energy of the article.

According to the present invention, the article packaged is held by two shaped supports which are provided with flanges to suspend the instrument away from the walls of the container and with inclined walls which may absorb energy through compression and through deection at a Aarent ,s ICC right angle to the direction of impact. The formed support may be made of pressed paper, molded plastic or brous material such as molded paper pulp which has the advantage of low cost. Since it is fairly stii, it need not completely surround the instrument. Because the flanges which suspend the article away from the outer carton intersect the surface of the carton at a right angle, they resist static crushing forces.

The invention is illustrated by the drawings in which the same numerals refer to corresponding parts and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the package of this invention shown suspending a delicate instrument; and

FIGURE 2 is a perspective View of the package of this invention partially cut away.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 a delicate instrument such as a small table model radio 10 supported within a corrugated carton 11 by means of two identical formed supporting structures indicated generally at 12. The supporting structures 12 each include a generally recessed or cup-shaped sec- ,tion 14 which is adapted to receive one end of the packaged article with a loose slip fit. Cup-shaped section 14 includes a at bottom wall 15 and inclined side walls 16. The walls 16 should be inclined to the side walls of the article to be packaged at an angle of approximately 7 to 15. Deiiection of these side walls 16 at a right angle to the walls of the carton helps to dissipate shock.

The bottom of the cup-shaped section 14 is provided with more deeply recessed channels 17 and 13 which are displaced out of the plane of bottom 14 and contact the end walls of carton 11. The sides of channels 17 and 18 are also inclined. Channels 1`7 and 18 may be either parallel, or crossed, as shown best in FIGURE 2.

Extending outwardly in a plane parallel to the bottom of the carton is a flange 19 which is continuous with the top of the inclined walls of cup-shaped section 14. The peripheral edges 20 of this flange are adapted to contact the inside walls of the carton 11. At least one channel 21 is provided on each side segment of ange 20 in order to give support to the ange. These channels each comprise a generally diagonal bottom section 22 running from the bottom of the cup-shaped section 14 to the periphery of flange 20 and two generally vertical side sections 23 and 24.

While the means for holding bottom wall 15 away from the end of the carton 11 is shown in the drawings as two crossed channels 17 and 18, other means may be provided if desired. For example, in the place of channels 17 and 18 there may be provided a single round or square elevation or projection in bottom wall 15 to support form 12 away from the ends o-f the carton. The side walls of this elevated section must be inclined in the same manner as the side walls of channels 17 and 18 for the purpose of providing resiliency.

The formed sheet may be made of laminated sheet material such as paperboard molded between matched dies while wet or it may be made of plastic or formed iibrous material. Other materials from which the end supports may be made will be apparent to those familiar with the packaging art.

When the package is subject to a severe shock pulse, the inclined walls 16 or the inclined sides of channels 17 and 18 will be displaced or exed at a right angle to the direction of the force. It is apparent that the damping of the shock pulses and vibration will be controlled by the stiffness of the material. If the article to be packaged is relatively light in weight, a more resilient material may be used, however, if the article is relatively heavy, the stiffness should be increased. Also, if more resiliency is desired with a material of the same composition and hence the same stiffness, side Walls 16 may be inclined at a greater angle to the side walls of the carton. Alternatively, the height of side walls 16 may be increased to bring about the same result.

It will be observed, particularly from FIGURE l, that the end supporting forms each provide for three separate and distinct levels of support. The first of these is in the plane of iianges 419 whose peripheral edges support the end forms within the outer carton 11. Another is in the plane occupied by the outermost projecting portions of channels 17 and 18 which bear against the end walls of the carton to support the form and the packaged article relative to the end walls while holding the ends of the article spaced from the end walls of the carton. Intermediate is the plane occupied by the bottom wall l5 of the cup-shaped portion 14 of the support form which, of course, bears against and supports the ends of the article to be packaged.

In the exemplary form illustrated, each of these levels of support is in a plane parallel to each of the others. It will be recognized, however, that variations from this arrangement may be present where the end walls of the article to be packaged are not flat plane surfaces or where they are planes which are not parallel to one another. In each instance the stepped arrangement of support will be maintained, however. Although of primary interest in the packaging of generally rectangular articles, it will be understood that the package of this invention is obviously not so limited.

Although the exemplary form illustrated and described has channels 17 and 18 projecting outwardly from the bottom wall 15 of the cup-shaped recessed portion 14 of the support form, it will be apparent that for some applications channels may be disposed about the periphery of the recessed portion with the restult that the inclined channel walls are extensions of inclined side walls 16. In this instance the bottom Wall 1S of the cup-shaped portion appears as an unbroken surface between channels on opposite sides, but the three levels of support remain the same.

The invention is further illustrated by the following examples:

Example I Pulp molded support forms were made as follows: a 2% aqueous slurry was made from 50% scrap kraft paper and 50% sulfite paper mill reject screenings. The pulp was molded on a contoured screen of proper shape, the reverse of that of the desired support form. The form was molded in the conventional manner by deposition of fibers from the slurry as the result of suction applied through the screen. The molded support form was dried in an oven without pressing. The density of the finished form was 3.53 grams per cubic inch.

Example II Other pulp molded support forms were prepared from a 2% aqueous slurry consisting of 25% scrap kraft paper and 75% sulfte paper mill rejectscreenings. The forms were molded as described on a contoured screen and dried in an oven without pressing. The density of the finished form was 3.12 grams per cubic inch.

Results of shipping many types of radios in packages made according to this invention sho-w that the packaging cost plus the monetary loss due to breakage was very low per shipment. It was found that the package satisfactorily protects electronic instruments from harmful shock and vibration and protects projections on the article, such as control knobs and the like, from contact with the side walls of the container. It was also found that in most instances the package satisfactorily protected the article against abrasion and marring. The package can be assembled very rapidly, thereby causing a reduction in handling costs.

Itis apparent that many modifications and variations of this invention as hereinbefore set forthV may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. The specific embodiments described are given by way of example only and the invention is limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A package for delicate articles comprising an outer carton including four side walls and two end walls and a shaped stiff resilient crush-resistant cushioning support embracing each end of the article packaged; said support comprising a generally rectangular cup-shaped section adapted to receive one end of said article, said cup-shaped section including a substantially flat bottom and four outwardly inclined walls, a peripheral flange extending outwardly from the top of said inclined walls and contacting side walls of said carton, a plurality of channels displaced out of the plane of said flange coextensive with said flange and said inclined walls and at least one deeply recessed area displaced out of the plane of the bottom of said cupshaped section contacting the end walls of said carton, said area including outwardly inclined walls extending to the bottom of the cup-shaped section.

2. A package according to claim l wherein the area displaced out of the plane of said cup-shaped section comprises a plurality of elongate channels.

3. A package for delicate articles comprising a carton including four side Walls and two end walls and two shaped stifrr resilient crush-resistant cushioning supports, one such support embracing each end of the article packaged; said support comprising a formed sheet including a central cup-shaped article supporting section having inclined side walls and at least one elevation in the bottom wall thereof, said elevation projecting from said cupshaped article supporting section end contacting the end wall of said carton, the walls of said projecting elevation being inclined for maximum shock absorbency, and a flange extending outwardly from the upper edge of said cup-shaped section to the side walls of said carton, the edge of said ange defining a rectangle having the same dimensions as a transverse section through said carton, said article being supported within the carton solely by said shaped supports.

4. A package according to claim 3 wherein said elevation comprises a plurality of elongate channels.

5. A package for delicate articles comprising an outer carton including four side walls and two end walls and two shaped stiff resilient crush-resistant cushioning supports, one such support embracing each end of the article packaged; said support comprising a rectangular cupshaped section adapted to receive one end of said article, said cup-shaped section including a fiat bottom wall, at least one deeply recessed area displaced out of the plane of said bottom wall toward the end wall of said carton and in contact therewith, the sides of each such recessed area being outwardly inclined, a peripheral ange in a plane parallel with said bottom wall and extending to the side walls of said carton, said flange being joined to said bottom wall by four outwardly inclined sidewalls, the edge of said iiange defining a rectangle having the same dirnensions as a transverse section through said carton, said article being retained in position Within the carton solely by said shaped supports.

6. A package according to claim 5, wherein the area displaced out of the plane of said cup shaped section cornprises a plurality of elongate channels having inclined side walls said side walls being inclined at an angle of between about 7 to 15 degrees.

7. A package according to claim 5 wherein the sup port consists of molded paper pulp and has a density of from 3 to 4 grams per cubic inch.

8. A package for delicate articles comprising an outer carton including side walls and two end walls and a shaped stiff resilient crush-resistant cushioning support form embracing each end of the article to be packaged, said support form including a recessed area conforming in size and shape to one end of the article to be packaged and having outwardly sloping side walls adapting the recess to receive one end of said article with a loose slide fit, an outwardly extending peripheral ange disposed about the opening to said recessed area, said peripheral flange having a size and shape corresponding to the inside size and shape of said outer carton to adapt the support form to rest with a slide fit therein, and at least one deeply recessed inclined walled area projecting from the bottom port form spaced therefrom.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS DeReamer Oct. 1, 1940 Williams Aug. 14, 1956 

